Danderma's Blog, page 66

SomeDay’s Cafe Picnic Invitation

Last week I received the cutest invitation to an event, which happens to be the last invitation of 2012 and the first event of 2013! It was wicker picnic basket covered with a striped red and white cloth.

The basket was from SomeDay, the newest cafe in Kuwait. The picnic basket had my blog’s name on its tag written in pink neon, nice!

What’s inside?

Munchies, fruits, a bottle of San Pellegrino’s Aranciata juice -which I adore- and and invitation to attend a picnic this Saturday! Very nice and picnic-y.

I loved the picnic invitation very much indeed. We should have more of these whicker baskets filled with goodies for picnics around Kuwait’s winter! I wonder if SomeDay sells these and we get to customise them with different contents? I would have loved to attend the event and have a picnic with these yummy truffles in the gorgeous weather but I have made other plans for Saturday. I’m sure its going to be a blast indeed! Thank you SomeDay and sorry I couldn’t make it.

SomeDay Cafe is located in Salhiya Plaza right opposite Salhiya complex. They offer a lot of items with a healthy kick and they do deliver. For more information you can call them on 22996424, check their website (link) which also has their delivery menu, or follow them on instagram (@SomeDayKw).

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 22

The last week of LoFat’s vegetarian diet has started and the count down has begun. On day 22 I received a breakfast of spinach fatayer with fruit kebabs, low fat laban (buttermilk), and white tea. The spinach fatayer was a nice change, soft and tangy. If you are a fan of spinach fatayer you should have this one for breakfast.

For lunch I received a baked mushroom casserole with cucumber and corn salad.

The mushroom salad, though the presentation was horrible, was very nice. Everything with bechamel in LoFat is very tasty and warming in this cold weather.

The corn salad was nice, albeit a tad boring with only corn and cucumbers. But it was nice and fresh.

For dessert I received an Apple Crumble that I had with white tea. It was nice. I like apple based desserts in general.

For dinner I received an italian vegetable wrap with sweet corn chinese soup.

The vegetarian wrap was nice and the portion was generous, which is a lucky thing considering the second dinner dish.

The sweet corn Chinese soup, however, was utterly horrible. The moment I took the plastic lid off the container I almost gagged, the smell was horrible. Then there were those white coagulated white things floating in which I suppose were the remains of some egg white. I simply couldn’t eat it.

Day 22 was refreshing give it came with all new items. I was getting a bit bored and restless the past few days!

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 21

Day 21 marked the third consecutive week of dieting with LoFat with one last week to go. This is also the last of the repeated diet meals so starting tomorrow and for the last week I’m having new meals to try and post about. Day 21 was exactly like day 7 (post) but this time LoFat got me a mushroom fettuccini alfredo instead of the chicken one they got me last time. It was good! 

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

Wicked Treats from Wicked Bites

On the last day of 2012 I returned home from work to find a lovely wrapped up gift and card from my dear Um 3zooz. Very sweet and nezaka, just like its sender :*

I couldn’t resist and I took many many pictures, so many in fact my memory card capacity was diminished at the end!

The card, picked out by Um 3zooz‘s boy Ahmad, was the sweetest thing that day

What do you think is inside? Why, I didn’t know! Lets find out shall we?

The second I pried the lid of the top tin box off, I was hit by the sweetest most mind blowing aroma of chocolate and powdered sugar. You know something will taste good if its heavenly aroma precedes it in such a seductive manner.

What about the second box? I opened it and whoa! These guys wave back at me, screaming eat me eat me!

Since the first day of the year was designated as my diet free day, I attacked both boxes and stuffed up my face with them. They had something crunchy and different, honeycomb like, in the mix that made them totally irresistible and quite delicious. I popped them in my mouth, one after the other, like popcorn and I’m not even a fan of Rocky Road!

Cookies, well, I’m a cookie monster trapped in a genie’s bottle. All it took is one whiff after prying open the lid for the monster to be unlashed. First, I poured myself a small cup of semi skimmed milk.

Then I had to choose the right cookie to attack, the one cookie with a perfect ration of chocolate chips and walnut pieces.

I think we have a winner. The smell of walnuts gave the cookies’s aroma an extra doze of richness.

I had one very yummy, chewy, crunchy bite of those delicious cookies after another, washed down with the cool velvety smooth sips of milk. Ah, comfort food!

The cookie tin held two kinds of cookies: traditional chocolate chip ones and soft voluptuous pillow-like cookies with a orange hue, aka pumpkin cookies.

I’ve never had pumpkin cookies before, in fact I’m not a pumpkin fan at all but these, all soft and round and tantalising, I couldn’t resist. With a cup of milk of course.

Inside the cookie the orange hue intensified, with melted pieces of something sweet trying to jump ship.

Naughty orange fellows! Dunk them in the milk and the resulting soggy pumpkin-y bite is lip-smacking!

Um 3zooz, the owner of Gelato Italiano, also owns a dessert business “Wicked Bites” that’s been put on the back burner for a while but will soon be available to order from. The Rocky Road, the Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies, and the Pumpkin Cookies are all items that would be available via Wicked Bites and wicked they are indeed. I can’t wait till they are officially back in business and when they do, I will update this post with the details. Stay tuned!

Thank you dear Um 3zooz for the comforting goodies you’ve sent me on my free day! I’ve enjoyed every single delicious bite, happy new year and get that wicked show on the road already

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 20

Day 20 and I have 8 more days to go. Since all I’ve been asked lately is “how many kilos of weight have you lost?” I think I’d explain it at the end of this post. As for the food, again I received the same items as day 6 so I don’t see a need to write up a nother post, you can check the meals here (post).

Now as for the weight issue, I don’t know how many exact kilos I’ve lost BECAUSE I didn’t weigh myself yet. I will check the weight AFTER I’m done dieting and see. Besides, not everyone loses the weight at the same rate. Age, activity, lifestyle, metabolism, and other factors contribute to weight loss so if a diet makes me lose 1 kilo it might make another person lose 3 and a third person lose 200 grams. Furthermore, the diet isn’t about losing weight rapidly, its not magic. Its about educating you on portion control and meal balancing and setting a schedule for meals rather than eating just for the sake of having something to do. Weight loss is not the sole purpose of this diet.

Day 20 is gone, eight more days to go.

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

Traditional Kuwaiti Thoub Party at Razza’s

What better way to spend the first day of the new year with than in an outdoorsy picnic with your friends? We were invited by Razza blog to attend a “Kuwaiti Thoub Party” in Ahmadi City and come 2 PM I was there with my camera and appetite.

I arrived to sea a big bouncing castle on the grass with a picnic blanket and the cutest dowwa ever! Dowwa is the coal burner we use for warmth in the winter in Kuwait by the way. Tea was boiling gently on the coals waiting for us to finish lunch.

How cute are these little dangly decoration pots hanging from the dowwa?

A few minutes later and lunch -traditional Kuwaiti dishes- was served. Lunch was from Al-Fouz Kitchen which also sells the dowwa above and the colourful serving dishes below with or without food.

After lunch it was time to relax in the garden and pose with the traditional Kuwaiti thoubs for the cameras.

The girls had thoubs made especially with their blog names on them. A thoub is a traditional embellished dressed worn in wedding and parties. However, Silver Bling Black brought her mother’s vintage thoub which was simply spectacular masha2 Allah! So gorgeous, she had to model it around for all of us.

Bothroos who -of course- was invited wanted to model too. Only he got to carried away a bit.

After posing for the pictures we sat down to Arabian coffee and Chai faham -coal’s tea- and old traditional Kuwaiti songs playing in the background.

And the killer selection of desserts available. First, Al-Fouz Kitchen‘s crunchy Lqaymat

Next, my current favourite cake, the Elba cake or the Saffron Cheesecake from Neq9a. I’ve  posted about my head over heels love relationship with her before (post).

Munchies from Al-Fouz Kitchen… all traditional Kuwaiti bites of course.

Bothroos stuffed his face with a cup old fashioned jelly and apple pieces.

And while we were relaxing and taking a breather after lunch in the garden, Pink girl started handing out little jewelled boxes to the attending guests.

What’s inside? a piece of chocolate with my blog’s logo printed on it. So neat! Thank you Dina Worlds for the thoughtful gesture!

There also was another big box of Dina Worlds chocolate for us all to share with the coffee and tea.

Now where’s that coffee cup… more Arabian coffee!

And at dusk as the sun was setting part two of the party began. Razza brought a saj and shawarma station for dinner too!

I had to leave then sadly as the sun was setting though and it was a beautiful pink sunset, the perfect ending to a fun filled day.

Thank you dear Razza for a lovely thoub party. Your and Dr. Handai’s hospitality totally made our first day of 2013! Akramkom Allah :*

What NOT to do when inviting bloggers to an event

A group of bloggers were discussing last year’s events, what’s good what’s funny what’s bad, and then the conversation turned to what’s the most annoying thing we’ve each encountered in these events. There were so many but some of them kept repeating so  I’ve decided post about those point in hopes that the next time someone decides to throw an event and invite bloggers, they’d take these points into consideration:

1- Sending out an invitation for one only is frowned upon unless seating is limited.  Sending out an invitation specifically for one person to try your restaurant menu up to a maximum of 10 KD only and if you eat more than that you’ll have to pay the excess? Downright cheap and vulgar. Social media are apparently not for everyone and until you can fix your uncle Scrooge’s attitude, you better not send invites to anyone.

2- Given that Instagram usage have boomed this past year, we would appreciate it if you don’t take our pictures and post them without referring to us even if it was your event. Its unethical and very rude. Always add a “By @blogger” if you decide to use our pictures.

3- If you are handling the invites, please do let the event owner know that you’ve invited this and blog and this blog. How do you think it feels, we make the effort to go to the event and introduce ourselves to the person of the event and they greet you back with this big question mark inside a bubble over their head screaming who the hell are you and why are you here, who invited you? We’d look for the nearest crack in the floor to disappear into. It happened before, we desperately wish it won’t keep happening.

4- We know that there can be a lot of people trying to gate crash a private event, we do appreciate it however if you let the person at the door know that this blog/person is coming especially if you’ve sent out email invites only. Taking time of our lives and driving all the way to your event only to be denied access at the door by someone who doesn’t know the difference between an email and a blog is the single most insulting and time-wasting thing you can do.

5- We also know that sometimes you are stranded for space, but it is unacceptable to give us a chair on the side of the event when every other guest has their own table and ask us to sit there just because we are blogs and we are supposed to ”cover” the event not be in it. If you want to invite us, treat us with repsect like every other guest you have in the event or we will leave. Period.

6- We, and by we I mean me and the bloggers who discussed this, do our event coverage and posts absolutely free, there for the event giveaways stand for the thank you reward for the upcoming post. Therefore, it’s really unfair when at the end of the event some bloggers get a big lavish giveaway and others get a teeny tiny one just because that blogger is deemed “more successful and more important” than the other attending bloggers. If they are, then why waste time inviting the unimportant ones? The gesture is degrading.

7- If you want to send out physical invites to your event, either send it out to all the bloggers you want to attend or if you can’t afford to, only send email invites to all. It’s not cool to send an actual fancy invite to “important” bloggers and send other “less” important bloggers last-minute email invites only. What ettiquete less statement are you trying to make exactly?

8- If you invite us to a restaurant, please don’t hover over our heads expecting us to take photographs + make small talk + eat + tell you your food is excellent when we are trying to answer you while chewing sonic fast and gulping food so we can talk with an empty mouth. Make an appearance at the start and end of the meal and ask whatever you wanter after. Also, don’t be offended if we say something is not good. We don’t mean it because we are vengeful. If you cannot handle constructive criticism maybe you should not invite people then.

9- Sending out press releases every week demanding they are posted in our blog and then when you have an actual event you don’t invite our blog? Seriously? Don’t send press releases in the first place, they won’t be published.

10- Blogging about events/restaurants/reviews is not done with a click of a mouse. We have to empty the camera’s memory card, choose pictures, edit them, watermark them, upload them into the blog, write a post, re-write it sometimes and check all the boxes in the screen. It’s not easy and certainly not fast. We’d appreciate it if you stop nagging about “when will you post about the event you came to” on all social media platforms in front of the entire world. Its bothersome and childish.

11- Every reader creates a certain look for the blogger behind the screen in their head and almost always the moment they meet them in real life they’d find out the real image of the blogger is different from the image in their head. If you are so superficial as to want bloggers with certain looks to attend your event and you are disappointed at the turnout, at least be polite enough to contain your disappointment until the event is over and next time, ask around for what you want. Better yet, how about you introduce a dress code, a weight limit, and a no-no’s list with your invitation? Save us all the trouble.

12- So you invite a blogger, you like the way they look and you charm them. The invites to  other events you throw are always sent to them and the blogger keeps attending. Then one day the blogger can’t make it to one of your events and BAM the blog is black listed and you don’t invite them anymore. What’s up with that? Sending someone an invite is not the same as signing a binding contract to attend each and everyone of your events or else.

13- Another point to take into consideration is that when a blogger is approached by a rivalling business of yours, it doesn’t mean they are a-  owned by that business and b-automatically an enemy of your brand and therefore should be x-listed. This business politics and rivalry is between you and your competitors and unless that blogger is actually sponsored by that rival business of yours, you shouldn’t punish by x-listing them. You’ll end up looking juvenile and unprofessional.

14- We also don’t understand it when you invite a group of bloggers for an event or tasting, then you have another event and invite half of the first group and ignore the other half, and then a few events later you decide to invite the bloggers you ignored the first time. We understand you might want a variety of bloggers to attend your event but usually when a blogger is not invited back to an event while other bloggers are translates to “your blog post about us sucked big time, you are not good”. Yeah, the drones behind the screen got feelings too!

15- Last, and most importantly, always make sure that most self-respecting blogs will NOT call you up asking for an invitation. At least I will never, ever do it. Nor will any self-respecting blog crash your event/outlet and demand free services or threaten you with a bad review. Period. We are blogs, not the mafia.

Now that’s a load off our chests. We can start 2013 with less baggage on our minds. Dear fellow bloggers, if you have anything you’d like to add to the list, please do share.

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 19

Happy New Year!

I’m happy that I’m starting the 2013 blog posts with dieting ones, I’ll consider it a good sign for the year! I didn’t diet yesterday but today I’m picking up my diet and resuming my path to feeling better. By the way I was told yeasterday that I looked thinner for sure, that’s a GREAT way to start the year. I love it when people say I look thinner

So its day 19, only 9 more days to go with LoFat’s diet! I’m going to miss having my meals delivered to me on daily basis and not worrying about them! However, the meal I got for my 19th day is exactly like the meal I got for day 5 and you can read all about it here (post). Not every day is going to be the same as before for sure.

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

Happy New Year 2013

Happy new year my blog readers and friends! I hope this year is filled with fun, health, and prosperity for all of you! If 2011 felt like it went by in a flash, 2012 was even faster! Now let’s see how am I doing in my list of last year’s new year resolution, I’ve made two lists actually, here’s the first one from the begining of the year’s blog (post).

Publish Dathra Book Volume II. Published and celebrated! Done.
Get the Hollywood smile before the end of 2012. I still have to wear the retainers and whiten my teeth but I’m half way there.
Go to Hajj? Didn’t have the chance to do so. Perhaps this year?
Learn to play the piano. Still gathering dust! Not done.
Attend a coffee making class. I graduated as a honorary barista! Thank you Gloria Jean’s! Done.
Use the ice cream maker I got for my 30th birthday and make frozen yogurt with it! Not Done.
Read some more. I have MANY books waiting to be read. At least ten pages per day! Done.
Eliminate all things emitting negativity from my life.  Half Done.
Get an iPhone and say good buy to BB forever. Got not one but two iPhones! Done.
Post more regularly. I had a turbelent year that left me unable to concentrate. Not Done.
Speaking of time: Allocate a cherished ME only time. Sadly not done.
This is the last and the most important resolution ever: I am who I am. I will not change for anybody’s sake. I will not pretend to be something I am not just to please people or because society expects me to do so, Period. You like me ahlan wa sahlan. You don’t like me ako alf 6ofa for 6ag el roos. I found myself again, still standing tall and being more of the me I recognize than before. I’ll consider it done.

 

Plenty of green in my first 2012 resolution’s list! Nice! Now let’s see the second list I posted about in this post (post).

Re-publish Dathra book 1: edited, proofread, and with the new cover. Its with the editor! Half done.
Find out more outlets to sell both Dathra books together once the 1st is republished. Still waiting for the editor, not my fault no sir :p
Join a photography class or two. Find out if I have any photography potential. Not done.
Finish working on the last room of the apartment filled with junk and unopened boxes. Err not done.
Use the thing I got 9 months ago to teach me how to play the piano. Still in its packaging. Not Done.
Lose 5 kilos. Just 5. Not so much to ask, no? I lost a bit less than five but its a start. Half Done.
Paint the things I want to paint and see if they turn out OK. Didn’t buy the paint yet! So not done.
Go back to the dentist. Go back to the dentist. Go back to the dentists. Work on my teeth is not done yet. Hate dentists. Go back to the dentists. Must be brave. He called me to come in! Done.
Be more active. Either take a daily walk or join some gym. Maybe a dance class or I’d buy a bicycle like everyone seems to be doing around me. Tempting. Well I walked the Grand Avenues several times, Does that count? No?
Sleep. I’ve lost the ability to sleep like a normal person in reasonable hours. I think the activity/gym might help me out there. I am begining to sleep earlier and better again. Thank god! Done.

 

Less green that the first list but not all of it is my fault! Perhaps 2013 will have be more successful! What about you? How did your 2012 resolutions go?

 

My Wish for 2013…

Have you ever heard the saying “wish on something strong enough and it might very well come true?”. I might have my doubts regarding this sentence before but earlier in 2012 I did wish on something strong enough, the wish came from the deepest part within me, so strong I almost felt it emitting in waves “it was scary a bit”, and it happened! It actually did happen and made me very happy. Thanks be to god.

Therefore, because I’ve experienced it and now know it is quite true, I’m not going to write a new year’s resolution. I’m going to write what is going to happen in 2013 with god’s will of course. The same way Jim Carrey wrote himself a check for 70 million one day and a year later he actually did have 70 million. I’m going to write it down, wish on it strong enough, try to find that deep will within me again, and wish for the best insha2 Allah!

By 31 December 2013, if by god’s will we are granted to live until then, I will be healthy and thin like before. I will be happy, serene, with three published books under my belt, the last of which will be published in 2013 -Dathra Volume III and last-. I will master the use of my camera and produce better photographs, I will be a better blogger, so good that when I’m asked about my name no one would go “who?” while scrunching their faces hoping for another blog name. I will perform better in my job, I will tidy up that room that’s half tidy in my house and throw away all the moving cartons once and for all, see less of my couch and be more active, dust my cooking gear and make an effort in the kitchen like I did before. I will be a better friend and make a few new ones, and I will try to save more money for future’s sake. All of this is with gods will if god grants us to live until the end of 2013 insha2 Allah.

Thanks be to Allah for his mercy, generousity, and blessings. I have my health, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in my stomach, books I can read, a job that puts money in the bank, a supportive husband, friends I adore, and live in a peacful country where I can sleep safe and sound at night. This concludes my blog postings for the year 2012. I wish you all have a great day and a happy new year